With the rising cost of energy, efforts have been made to provide homes and other buildings with insulation which may more efficiently prevent temperature migration between the inside and the outside of buildings. Modern building techniques include the installation of a vapor barrier in the walls of homes or other buildings.
The vapor barrier may help prevent moisture and/or temperature migration. For example, if moist air from inside the building penetrates the vapor barrier, the moisture may condense inside the walls and ceilings of the building. This condensed moisture can promote mold growth and cause building materials to degrade. The loss of warm air from the inside of the building to the outside of the building may increase the cost of heating the structure. Similarly, intrusion of warm and/or moist air into a building from outside may increase cooling costs within the structure.
When mounting audio speakers, keypads, and/or other low voltage electronic devices in the wall or ceiling of a house or other building it is desirable to protect the low voltage electronic devices from exposure to dirt, debris from building materials, and other substances which may cause these devices to deteriorate. Installers who place low-voltage electronic devices in the walls of structures may sometimes use standard building materials to fabricate a “custom-built” enclosure at the installation site. To comply with modern building requirements, these custom-built enclosures must be substantially impervious to warm, moist air, and they must be sealingly connected to the existing vapor barrier of the structure. A great deal of skill is required to assemble an enclosure at a work site that will accomplish these goals. Even when an installer is highly skilled, this task is very time consuming.